Author: E.L. Konigsburg
Illustrator: E.L. Konigsburg
© Date: 1967
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pages: 162
Chapters: Yes
Illustrations: A few, most page layouts do not have an illustration
Publisher Recommended Age:
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: When Claudia decided to run away, she planned very carefully. She would be gone just long enough to teach her parents a lesson in Claudia appreciation. And she would go in comfort-she would live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She saved her money, and she invited her brother Jamie to go, mostly because he was a miser and would have money.
Claudia was a good organizer and Jamie had some ideas, too; so the two took up residence at the museum right on schedule. But once the fun of settling in was over, Claudia had two unexpected problems: She felt just the same, and she wanted to feel different; and she found a statue at the Museum so beautiful she could not go home until she had discovered its maker, a question that baffled the experts, too.
The former owner of the statue was Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Without her-well, without her, Claudia might never have found a way to go home.
Page Pig Thoughts: This book was mentioned many times in Chris Grabenstein’s “Mr. Lemoncello” book series. Page Pup had read it more than once at school. I decided to see what it was all about.
I enjoyed following the adventure of Claudia and Jamie running away, but was mostly interested in the mystery of the statue and how it would work out. The descriptive words, older time era, and writing style were a refreshing change from the usual book styles that I’ve been reading. Following characters in an older time, before security cameras and cell phones, makes for an interesting technology/history perspective. Maybe due to my own mixed-up emotions about a story of runaway children, I had a hard time attaching to the characters, but I found it a good story all the same. The book ended in such a way that makes it tempting to read it again to see what clues and comments are given throughout the story.
Family Unit: Claudia and Jamie are siblings. Their family includes a mother, father, and four children (Claudia, Steve, Jamie, and Kevin). Their grandmothers are deceased, but they have at least one grandfather still alive.
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Claudia and Jamie disagree on money management. Jamie thinks Claudia is a frivolous spender. Claudia thinks Jamie is a cheap skate, but chose him to manage their finances because he would make the money last longer.
- Jamie gets tired of Claudia constantly correcting his grammar.
- Near the end, the children disagree on when to go home. Jamie is ready to go home, but Claudia wants to solve the mystery of the statue.
Positive Items:
- Claudia and Jamie quickly learn to work together as a team, they stop petty bickering and just have disagreements that they work through.
- The children learn how tricky it can be to run away from home. They no longer have comfort items and learn how to wash their own clothes.
- The children are self reliant and manage to take care of themselves.
- The children try to learn something new everyday while they are at the museum, so they follow around school groups touring the museum.
- The children go home at the end of the story.
Items of Interest:
- Claudia plans running away carefully and for awhile.
- The children do not think much about how their parents are feeling while they are away from home.
- Jamie plays war with his friend on the bus everyday. They secretly play for money, and even more secretly, Jamie cheats his way into a decent amount of money for a child his age.
- The story also mentions the cost of many items, which allows room for thinking about inflation and how much things cost today.
- The children are staying in the museum by sneaking around security guards.
- The children sleep in one of the historical exhibit beds, stash their stuff in exhibit items (e.g. sarcophagus), bathe in the museum fountain, and collect money from the bottom of the fountain for income.
- The creator of a beautiful statue new to the museum is unknown, which opens a discussion on scientific debate and whether or not it is necessary for everything.
- The children try to sort out how to find clues about the maker of the statue, particularly ones that the experts wouldn’t have come up with.
- Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler treats the children as adults, and finds a way for them to feel changed after their adventure and go home.
- Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is good to her word when she makes deals. She also clearly has a lot of money, but is not concerned with flaunting it. She is more interested in creating mystery and enjoying secrets than making money selling a piece of art.
- Claudia and Jamie decide to adopt Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler as a grandmother because theirs are deceased.